Joint School Committees in open session
Joint School Committees in closed session
After a contentious ten minutes in open session where member Trevor Baptiste lamented "I've had my full of threats, and would prefer any threats happen in open session," the joint meeting of the Regional, Amherst and Pelham School Committees retreated into Executive Session for what we were told would be about "an hour."
Almost THREE HOURS later they came out of Executive Session and the open session continued for only another twenty minutes before adjournment.
Attorney Tom Columb (who replaced retired Ginny Tate) attended both open and closed sessions
Regional School Committee Chair Laura Kent (the head honcho chair of the three committee chairs present) specifically said they were NOT discussing School Superintendent Maria Geryk's evaluation and that would be done in open session as required by state Open Meeting Law.
So what the Hell did they discuss for almost three hours with their attorney Tom Columb present?
Maria Geryk's current contract has another two full years left on it (with an automatic extension of one addition year), so obviously they were not simply talking about a routine contract renewal.
Maria Geryk ARPS Superintendent contract by Larry Kelley on Scribd
And, it would have been a gross violation of Open Meeting Law if they did discuss the recent controversy of the "stay away" order Ms. Geryk arbitrarily issued against parent Aisha Hiza back in March, which has caused an avalanche of bad press.
Either way the combined School Committees meet again on Monday for a "retreat" but will discuss in open session the twice delayed evaluation of Superintendent Maria Geryk. Providing of course she shows up for that meeting.
Former School Committee member Amilcar Shabazz waited 3 hours to comment
Since Ms. Geryk has to be present for such a discussion and she was notably absent last night, the School Committees could not have discussed her evaluation anyway even if they had come out of Executive Session much earlier.
But hey, at least I discovered art while wandering the halls of the High School:
The Gazette has a fairly complete story on the three hour meeting. You should read it. It answers several questions you ask.
ReplyDeleteBad press? You, and the drunken college student debauchery, are the main causes of Amherst and outsiders getting a bad taste in their mouths about Amherst, like in this piece, for example. Why is this meeting a fiasco? You didn't get what you wanted so the meeting has gone off the rails?
Apparently there are rules and guidelines for evaluating a superintendent and some of the committee did not follow those. (Here is where you would speculate as to whom those culprits are, and then you'd make a headline out of it.) But you are a rules and order guy, so I'm surprised that this minor delay in presenting the superintendent evaluations has your drawers in an uproar.
That art has been hanging there for 4 or 5 years. Where have you been? In fact, the art produced in the school is amazing, year in and year out. Did you "cover" the high school art show this year? Any year? How about the middle school art show?
Or is it your job to shed light only on the bad news you perceive?
Larry has been reporting for weeks on the goid news if you look at the happy non controversial articles hes been posting for weeks. The school committee and the SI have been a mess this year and as elected officials tax payers have the right to know what happens in the neetings. Even if it is to peek their interest enough to start paying attention.. Gow much did the Caroline Gardner case actual cost use in attorney fees and the payout ? How much did we pay in attorney fees last year thatvwe could have used to keep the art teacher & and others ? How many administrators do we have actually ? Did we pay akalis any hush money ? The MS teacher obviously didnt go bsck easy for family to be closer to family when she is a finalist for the job in Buckland. I haven't started about the lies involved in the Hiza situation. Or about how much money she cost Pelham. Maybe Maria isn't as free as Roger Godell ..Breaking Fed law is tough to overcome. Oh let me add a typo for Kut.. I mean Kurt..
DeleteLarry has NEVER posted a story of anything good happening in the schools. NEVER! He doesn't think anything good happens there.
DeleteIt was the Fort River principal who went East to be with her family. Not the MS principal. And yes we never should have paid Carolyn Gardner a penny but it was your friends, Sick in Pelham, who forced the issue. That whole affair was a manufactured crisis that took over our schools for a year to the detriment of every child in the district.
DeleteThe only person telling lies in the Hiza situation was Hiza herself. Does it ever occur to any one that the reason so many are leaving our schools is the constant turmoil created by Baptiste and Shabazz and Vira and now Sick in Pelham. I've lived in Amherst for over 40 years. I raised my kids here. I've been an observer of the schools and SC for a very long time. Maria Geryk is the best SI we've ever had. And this town is allowing these agitators to make it impossible for her to do her work. I fear we will lose her. Who do you think will want to come here to be SI? If Maria decides to at some point throw in the towel we will be up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Good luck to all you with kids in the schools. You'll need it.
Well I think that you will come to find the truth at some point and maybe after the court case and after everything comes down and you have a superintendent breaking federal law is a huge problem and yes she broke the federal law. You're not a lie and going on with Miss hiza the child was bullied no one helped her at the administrative level they tried at the school but the restorative justice system in place sucks so that didn't work. Just take the blinders off I Raised All of My Children here too. And I've lived here for fifty years so now that we need to know play the how long have you lived in town game it doesn't matter. We've had some pretty bad superintendents.
DeleteState law says they have to discuss the purpose of any exec session. And if it involved Baptiste, he had the right to have it open.
ReplyDeleteNot showing up for meetings is a jop performance issue
Is Maria melting down?
I think so...
DeleteSounds like Kurt is.
ReplyDeleteI believe he is its too bad my daughter needs a bike but I am not getting it from kurt
Deletemaria is trying to use some Remember "Kremlinwatching?" Now we have "Kurtwatching."
ReplyDeleteApparently maria is trying to use techicalities to kepp something out of her evaluation.
and a url for the gaz story?
That would definitely be my guess answers evaluation time that Marie is unhappy with something to do with her evaluations I don't know about the rest of you I'm thinking maybe it's the truth
DeleteThe Region just cut an art teacher, so the art department will be a little less amazing. Why not cut an extra administrator first?
ReplyDeleteSeveral administrators have already been cut for this fiscal year.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure it's true but I heard that over the last three years we prayed over 2 million dollars in legal fees can anyone get the number on this? And if this is that was true 2 million dollars goes a long way the balance a budget and keep teachers. I do think we are Administration heavy
DeleteTo Anon 3:28 or anyone who knows:
ReplyDeleteWhich administrators were cut?
People that know these things make these comments and then when we asked more questions like with administrators were cut? No one ever responds so on this blog if you don't get a response then you've made a point that the administration and people that support the current Administration don't want to acknowledge.
DeleteI don't know specifically who was cut other than the position held by Kim Stender. I just remember watching the SC meeting where the budget was presented and listened to the discussion that night where the cuts from administration were outlined. I at least watch the SC meetings. I would hazzard a guess that the majority of folks commenting and complaining on this blog have never seen a SC meeting or been on the website or spent one second of time to find out what are all the good things that are happening in the schools. Because Sheesh if Maria Geryk is the SI how could there possibly be anything good happening? I'm sickened by all of you!
DeleteMaria.sucks at her job. She need to go away.MAYBE our school.committees finally has enough gumption to stand up for the parents and children of our town. Maria can no longer push them around and hide her inAbility to handle tough situation. SHE continually blows situations up to a point where they end up in lawsuits. $$$$
ReplyDeleteSckened...your posts are consistently lacking in any sense of English grammar. ...is your spell check just worse then anyone else's?
ReplyDeleteYes cant spell check from a flip phone. And completely besides the point.
DeleteIn five years under this superintendent, what has improved for our students? Any info on this? The superintendent struggles with every school committee year after year. Are our kids any better off? Some facts please.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say exactly what's happening in Amherst I only know that there is a lot of bullying problems. A lot of parents who tried to navigate through the system to get help before they decided to move to different schools. That we can't seem to keep a principal that we're constantly having principal turnover at Fort River, the Middle School. I can't see to the other schools because I don't pay as much of attention to them. I could tell you that the school system in my town of Pelham hasn't gotten better in the last six years and hasn't stayed the same. But I do think it's unfair to compare Lisa d to a long-standing principal like we had before. it's hard to compare 20 years of experience with practically none. Duevtob that bad hiring decision we have seen our school and children duffer. Sry the sh*t rolls uphill. When you make 158000 and your the top dog it ultimstely it is all their fault. Thst is why SI get paid the big bucks.
Deleteanon@8:41: Its also not fair to compare Lisa to the previous principal. Lisa has to follow new procedures and policy from Ms Geryk. Most notably the new anti-discipline, aka restorative justice, approach to behavior issues (which puts all the onus on the victim to solve the issue).
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DeleteEditted ..Completely agree I really like Lisa as a person. I think it's nearly impossible for our principals to follow these policies including the restorative justice program. The constant change and additions of new policies / curricum etc. Make running a school/ keeping bullying in check difficult. UlTimately it is the fault of the top dog. She needs to go sooner the better.
DeleteWho's idea was restorative justice and other such policies like non-suspensions?
ReplyDeleteI believe these new policies were put in place to appease the likes of Trevor and Shabazz and Vira and their followers. Now that no one is getting suspended, just as they wanted, they are still screaming about injustice. These are the people who are destroying our schools and driving people away. I know I am looking at other options cuz I'm sick and tired of the constant turmoil they stir up. They and their ilk are destroying our schools.
DeleteI have been very busy looking at the school committee meetings attending school committee meetings becoming involved in the school committee meetings because I've realized that not enough people in this town are. The school committee meetings over the last year or two has been a joke. The treatment of our school committee members were elected officials by paid administrative staff are a joke. I finally have some hope after the last school committee meeting that needed this school committee will be the school committee I was able to set policies and supervise the superintendent appropriately because she needs it
DeleteI agree the SC meetings have been a joke for the last 2 years. That is because Baptiste has been chair for the last 2 years. He is a clueless fool who had no idea what his role was or what the role of the SC was. Nothing has been accomplished by the regional SC in 2 years.
DeletePart of the SI job is to guide our average elected citizens to understand the rules and the guidelines and the laws regarding open meeting and school committee so if things have been a mess it's because Maria has not been able to communicate with Trevor. Or Trevor has been unable to communicate with Maria. But ultimately it's her job to guide our elected officials who are just normal average people on how to handle and follow the laws regarding school committee. At least that's what I heard when I was at a school committee meeting.
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DeleteSick in Pelham
DeleteIt is absolutely NOT the SI's job to educate the public about the SC. It is the chair's job to know the rules, to follow them, to make sure others follow them and to educate the public. You are clearly new to all of this. And you clearly don't know what you are talking about.
I think that's the funniest thing I have ever read. No I am not Aisha. I would post who I am however I do not feel like having my life completely turned upside down by Maria's husband AND Maria supporters which is why I stopped posting under my own name A WHILE AGO . If you read back through any of the old Pelham post it's pretty obvious that I'm not AISha. AISha and I have similar goals IN that we have lost all faith in our superintendent. However my goals are slightly differeNT. I'm worried about our town (Pelham) and whether our small community can handle a civil rights lawsuit financially. I'm mad that the superintendent didn't check with any of our town officials or other leaders ( Gary doesnt count ) of our town before she put this order in place. I still had this tiny hope of respect for our administrators until they didn't ban the white parent that threaten the seven.year-old during recess. I don't care who you are you don't walk onto school property or anywhere else and threaten Someone's Child. I hope the parents of that child sue the school for not Banning her. I honestly believe she wasn't banned because she is rich an has the means to get a lawyer unlike Aisha. I hate to think.she wasnt banned because she is white. I have watch this situation for two years because I have a child in the school. So no I paid taxes in Amherst My businesses. I pay taxes in Pelham ON MY OtHER BUSINESS. I pay my 7000+ property taxes. my main concern all along has been how the superintendent can have so much power with nobody that is regulating or check and balancing her. That she can make a decision that can rip a child away from their mother during the school day. She can change a court ordered custody agreement the changes communication from the custodial parent to the non-custodial parent. She can allow a non-custodial parent who has not had a CORI check be at the school for hours around other children that arent his. She can take the word of a parent who wants to take custody of a child away from the mother and not even look into the background or history of that relationship.
DeleteMaria can then make these decisions without checking with any of our town elected officials in Pelham. We have no industry in this town we can't afford our school as it is and now she has spent $20,000 in legal fees for a child that we get $5,000 for from Chicopee that is fiscally irresponsible. She has cost us money. Our town/ school we lost four to eight children 4 and 1 grade! That are choicing out next year.Many of those children are minorities. Our Town can't afford not to fill our school with school choice. The taxpayers can't afford it if our school isnt full. We sure as hell can't handle a civil rights lawsuit. Naria couldn't take 15 minutes to Google and see the Banning Aisha from talking to the school committee breaks federal law. How one person decisions are going to affect our whole town tax-wise school-wise and there's no way that anybody could say to her slow down. There's a way you can fix this before it gets to the point it reached? The Si should have been trying to de-escalate the situation. She should have been looking at who is Aisha is as a person. You don't back a fighter into the corner. You don't threaten somebody who's had to fight for everything she has.You don't disrespect and bully a Amherst Regional High School graduate that was taught to stand up for what's right. Maria made a huge mistake at least with our town.
I agree she made a huge mistake with this WW project, Few ppl in town wanted the mega school. For her to push all that through and spend all this money on Consultants. I can go on and on and on it just makes me sick hence my name because I'm not sickened by the administration of the elementary school unlike Aisha. I am sickened by Chestnut Street for all of us.
Sick in Pelham
DeleteYou don't know a thing about what you are talking about.
That is funny . I do know. Im the v one who told the selectman on March this was happening. So please enlighten me on where my errors are. Becase I can share with you the federal law that supersedes the state law regarding communication with the school committee I live in this town so I watch our taxes go up every single year are taxes personally I just went up to 7400 this year and if our school is in full somebody needs to make up that deficit. We lost4 children during the school year to Wildwood fort river and another school. We are losing at least 3 out of first grade and possibly 2 more so please enlighten me if you have more information than me because I would love not to be so angry about how much this is going to cost my community. And if not a Pelham resident or a parent that's cool choices in the Pelham then I honestly don't think you have much to say about the situation. Unless of course you're a teacher with access to our budget records or a school Committee Member then I will also be very happy to hear your opinion on where I'm wrong. Otherwise maybe you should just mind your business and deal with her Maria is ruining the Amherst schools and not worry about what she's doing Pelham and there's absolutely no way we're going to regionalize so if she can push that right out of her brain
DeleteAnon 533 Maybe you should read 819.
Delete352 ,I am new to the following SC less than a year. Thank you for educating me. Knowledge is power !
DeleteHaving stayed away from the blog for a while, I opted to revisit after reading the article in the newspaper. While it should not surprise me, I am amazed that it is many of the same people obsessing on this blog. It is none of my business but I wonder about the richness or lack thereof, of their personal lives.
ReplyDeleteWhile you may not agree, I think it is extremely unhealthy and unwise to speak about the spouse of any public employee. I begin to wonder when the spouses, life partners, etc. of the commenters should be brought into the discussion? I mean, after all, you are opting to offer public opinion, much of which is uninformed, inaccurate and ignorant, about someone who is not a public official.
And, of course, there are so many lies and misrepresentations on this blog that people just assume are true. If only, if only, if only, the superintendent was able to speak publicly about all of this! Ugh, I am sickened by Larry and many of these commenters. You have no right, no right, no right to attack anyone the way that you do. Your lives must be empty and pathetic and lonely.
I believe it's called the First Amendment, and it even applies to Cowardly Anon Nitwits.
ReplyDeleteWell said Anon 2:03
ReplyDeleteAnon 1:33 I believe I remember said spouse of an employee doing the commenting here. But thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteUntil you take an open stand like I did on a Maria issue. Then have the spouse of Maria try to maniuplate and start rumors about your business and personal life ..You have zero understanding of where I am coming from which is why I post as anon now.
DeleteAnon 3:07 - Clearly you no nothing about who has been posting. Get a grip! And, stop the gripe!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that Shabazz got up to point his finger at and criticize the school committee for not doing things right when not only was he just ON it, but had also been the CHAIR! Why didn't he fix things when he was elected to do so?
ReplyDeleteI don't believe he was ever Chair of the RSC.
ReplyDeleteI can't follow any of the comments. Read them before you post!
ReplyDeleteAs an Amherst taxpayer and an Amherst parent of a child in our public schools, I'm sick to death of these SECRET MEETINGS. My message to the school committee members and in particular to the ones who were just elected in the last election... you are NOT sitting in the Situation Room making life and death decisions of war and peace... you are our representatives in the running of the school system and so reel in those egos and start putting all of the business out in the public. This horse shit has to stop. Who says that these school committee people are the only ones who can be trusted to have the information being discussed in these SECRET MEETINGS? You were just regular citizens 10 months ago and you do not have any special privilege to know what we do not know. God, I am so sick of the egos of these little people who love acting like big people. We are ALL little people and we govern ourselves and elect you to represent us. Not to decide what we will be told and what we will not be told. At this point, I would recommend that all incumbent school committee members be defeated in the next election. And especially the new members that we all put so much trust in and have clearly become just like the bunch we voted out. Wake up, Amherst! We are letting these small minded people of huge egos make themselves way more important than they are. It's time for someone to call this horse shit for what it is.
ReplyDeleteI agree we may need an overhaul of the sc. I won't agree completely until I see two things 1. The SI evauations and 2. A policy set with state guidelines regarding stay away orders so this abuse if power NEVER HAPPENS TO ANOTHER PARENT EVER AGAIN.
ReplyDeleteIf Maria decides to at some point throw in the towel we will be up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Good luck to all you with kids in the schools. You'll need it.
ReplyDeleteA guy who uses his wife/girlfriend as a punching bag usually says something similar to her.
Much like an abused woman, Amherst is better off without Maria G.
I think everyone will agree that Ms Geryk did a lousy job with the "Wildwood" renovation/replacement project. Some will think worse than others...The community was shocked to discover that the "wildwood' in the 'wildwood' project was but a small component and that Ms Geryk had decided w zero input from the community to entirely reconfigure the elementary school model in Amherst. Only later after the decision was made, did she hold forums (which have no effect on anything and just let the folks blow off steam). Whether or not this is a good idea, the community should have been apart of making the decision at the very beginning. If for nothing else the SC should provide a poor evaluation of her handling of this particular (and huge) process (that will change our elementary schools for the next generations). She could have done it differently and better.
ReplyDeleteDon't believe everything you think. It's good advice.
ReplyDeleteDear SAP, aren't you really SAC, as in Chicopee?
ReplyDeleteAnon 107 pkease read anon 408 above.. I am not Aisha.. I think that is funny we share goals but we also have very different concerns. My concerns are for my town. PELHAM.
ReplyDeleteOne Black Amherst voter (not even a parent) writing a letter to the Voting Rights folk at the US Dept of Justice would have the entire district in Federal recievership for dillution of Black votes. Maria would be gone in a week.
ReplyDeleteLet's not speak of the "mega school" in the past tense. It has not happened yet, and it won't, until the Town signs off on it with a debt override vote this fall, and Town Meeting signs off on it with a project vote.
ReplyDeleteThe Select Board meets this Monday at 6:30 to set the language for the debt override. The override will be for $65 million give or take, and the draft language is this:
Shall the Town of Amherst be allowed to exempt from the provisions of Proposition two-and-one-half, so called, the amounts required to pay for the bonds issued in order to construct, originally equip and furnish a consolidated Wildwood Elementary School and Fort River Elementary School in one building serving grades 2- 6 on the existing Wildwood Elementary School site, including the cost of architectural design, project management and other incidental and related costs, as well as demolition of the existing building and other necessary site improvements? Yes No
The language is problematic because, of course, it's not a "consolidated Fort River and Wildwood" -- it's consolidating ALL THREE elementary schools (2-6) in one school, so it's "consolidated Fort River, Wildwood, and Crocker Farm". I hope the Select Committee fixes this -- it's a common misconception.
(At one point there was a dual K6 on the table that would have been, essentially, FR + WW; but this is not that plan.)
We posted the relevant excerpts from the agendas at the SASS blog: https://saveamherstssmallschools.wordpress.com/2016/07/15/debt-exclusion-going-on-the-ballot/
If the override is voted down we get nothing. Wildwood will remain as is and Fort River will remain as is. For the foreseeable future.
ReplyDeleteAnd how much money will we have spent I'm ending up with nothing? And how much money have we spent in The Last 5 Years on lawsuits and lawyer fees? Or does our school insurance cover lawyer fees I don't know I'm not being facetious I really don't know? I feel like we're wasting money. I feel like we have a lot of Administrators and not enough teachers but maybe I'm wrong so I would really like to have a conversation about the number of Administrators that are in the school system they don't direct teaching vs direct teachers and how many positions got cut as well in each of those that doesn't seem to be a question answered because for some reason that doesn't seem to be a question
DeleteI'd like to compliment Mr. Shabazz and his co-consirators for not only figuring out a way to make a living off their minority status but to hold a whole town hostage to their race-baiting politically correct shenanigans. I wish I could have made a living off being an Irish Catholic white person but unfortunately the only way I could find to make a living was to actually become good at something. Oh well, we can't all make a living on squeezing eternal apologies out of innocent nice people who just want to treat everyone fair. Shame on all of those professional race baiters. If they ever had to actually go out into the world and make a living like the rest of us, they'd starve.
ReplyDeleteEveryome has their own goals.and end game. It is pretty scary when 1 person becomes so incompetent that it unites purple across the groups. Run TeaM Maria while you can !
DeleteFor.me this has nothing to do with race. I see how your statement as an attempt to polarize the community and distract the conversation away from the incompetence of the schoo system. The manipulation of the SI etc.. But I am white so I.dont always understand how our actions effect the monorities in our community. I JUST TRY TO BE.SUPPPORTIVE of injustice. I too graduated from here and what my parents didn't teach me.. My teAchers did.
DeleteSomeone should submit a visual...perhaps sixty-five million recycled water bottles....to help voters decide on whether to accept an override to build anything costing $65 million dollars! Get a grip on what that figure really means!
ReplyDeleteOur share will be a fraction of 65 million. Not all of it.
ReplyDeleteMore than fraction!
DeleteAnon 11:01pm - We will pay at least 51-55%, maybe more depending on the "final audit". It's true that's "a fraction" although usually when we say "a fraction" we think < 50%, not more.
ReplyDeleteAnon 6:35pm - "If the override is voted down we get nothing. Wildwood will remain as is and Fort River will remain as is. For the foreseeable future." Actually most projects that get voted down at Town Meeting or Town go on to get an extension from the MSBA and either vote again on the same project or a different one. We'll be posting those stats (from Public Records Act request) later this week, after another talk with the MSBA to clarify some questions about the ones that do not do an extension.
Even 55% is a fraction of 65 million. No?
DeleteThe ongoing school controversy has everything to do with money and power, with little or no concern for our school children. Thanks to Dr. Shabazz, Mr. Baptiste and soon-to-be state representative Dourangmany Cage for honorably standing up for all our school children (Dylan A. and the 8th grade white boy who was beat up because he was was white), their mothers (Aisha H) and teachers (Carolyn G) regardless of the color of their skins! Using a Stevie Wonder Big Brother analogy, "You don't have to do nothing to her, the superintendent will cause her own administration to fall!"
ReplyDeleteFinally someone else that speaks sense. I agree 100%. The problems have been there a long time now. They have been conitunal. We wil find a superintendent to replace her if we can get her removed ! I just hope he/ she does a clean sweep when they arrive.
ReplyDeleteAgree Agree Agree! Everyone on TM keeps saying we wont find a SI that will touch her job.. I DISAGREE. AMHERST was great and it can be again .. But a clean house is an excellant place to start. Cross our fingers !
DeleteThere were some questions earlier about "which administrative positions were cut", and a reference to Mike Morris' comments at Town Meeting and School Committee that Administration positions had been cut. Per the FY 17 budget, the staffing projections look basically the same. "District Program and Support" is down slightly from FY15 (77.91 to 77.18). (FY17 budget, http://www.arps.org/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=8216098, p.165)
ReplyDelete"Central Administration and staff" (p.164) is listed as 9.61, same as last year, but down from 10.18 in 2014-15; still significantly UP from 2011-2012 when it was 6.90. That's FTE (full-time-equivalent) and doesn't include support services like IT, special ed, facilities.
Up 3.5 in the past 4 years isn't that a lot ?
DeleteThere is now an assistant to the assistant superintendent and a very pretty one. Both positions recently filled. Morris is nothing more than Maria's puppet. Look closely at him during sc meetings. He bobs his head quite heavily every time she speaks! Her strings are tight. He is incompetent as a leader. He refers to students they find undesirable in subgroups. The dominant group being: A students, white, two parents, and wealthy. Monica Hall-totally useless position, also newly created. It's been said before this administration has administrators can adiministrating to those above them who all have an assistant who each have a secretary. It is gross!
DeleteTotal waste of our school budget our tax dollars and our students ability to learn less teachers plus learning bigger class sizes gross incompetence sorry there's no commas for those of you who are worried about punctuation
DeleteAmending my own comments about reimbursement rates for the new project:
ReplyDeleteThe base rate of reimbursement is 32%; then the MSBA calculates various demographics, which gives us a much higher reimbursement rate at 68.30%; then they add incentives (for green schools, re-using existing facilities, etc), which we are mostly not getting. That rate is applied JUST to the things they reimburse, and there is a long list of things they don't reimburse for. The project manager ("OPM)" projects that, when all that is taken into account, our reimbursement rate for the "total project" (the building project at Wildwood, not the Crocker Farm or Fort River site work), will be 50-54%.
The BOLD site initially quoted the 68% reimbursement rate, which was highly misleading; they have since corrected it (without noting the error). Now their site simply lists the high end of the OPM's projection (54%). We'll get the "official" MSBA reimbursement rate soon, after the budget has been approved. But the EFFECTIVE reimbursement rate will come once we see the total project amount and the MSBA has started saying the things it won't pay for. Typically the MSBA rejects things that exceed its determination of project needs -- if we go for an extra fancy gym or art facilities, for instance, or extra spaces.
I've also been asked if the reimbursement takes into account the INTEREST we pay on the loan, or just the PRINCIPLE. It's just the principle. The MSBA reimburses the construction costs, not the loan.
Do we know the interest rate? Even on a small interest rate borrowing 35 million dollars or better the interest is going to be unbelievable like we're taxing our grandchildren.
Delete